ST Developing Micro Fuel Cells for Mobile Phones

STMicroelectronics Inc. (ST, Geneva, Switzerland) has reported progress by one of its advanced research and development teams in developing tiny fuel cells, small enough to fit inside a mobile handset, that could generate all the electrical energy needed to power the phone from cheap and easily available organic fuels The tiny fuel cells would be refilled with fuel whenever needed, just like refillable cigarette lighters. The development would find applications in mobile phones, laptops and other portable terminals.

"Using fuel cells instead of batteries would make mobile phones lighter and much more convenient to use as they could be simply topped up with fuel whenever necessary. In addition, there would be significant environmental benefits as the fuel can be derived from sustainable organic sources, while the by-products are mainly water and a much lower level of carbon dioxide than is produced by burning fossil fuels," stated Salvo Coffa, who leads the Corporate Technology research and development team that is researching the micro fuel cell technology.

ST has developed new technologies in which the fuel cell could be implemented as a 3D structure containing thousands of buried micro channels that maximize the contact area between the gases, the catalysts and the electrodes. The ST research team has also succeeded in fabricating a special nanoporous layer, consisting of a layer of silicon containing millions of pores, each measuring just a few nanometers in diameter. The small pore sizes give the layer a very large effective surface area, thus increasing the efficiency of the catalysis. In addition, the ST team is working with the University of Naples to develop novel membranes that exhibit high proton conductivity and lower cost compared to the membrane materials that are now commercially available.

The ST work on micro fuel cells is partially supported by a National Research Project, aimed at developing small fuel cells for portable electronic applications, in which several other Italian institutions participate (CNR-IMM, CNR-ITAE, CNR-ITS and Pirelli labs). In the project, ST leads and coordinates the activity related to micro-fuel cell fabrication and integration.